Quitter
by LethargicLogic
Summary: Sly's family line is in danger, but what happens when he finds there to be more than meets the eye with the gunslinger raccoon? Will he be able to save Tennessee before it's too late or will the wild west prove to be too much of a challenge? Included headcannons and ocs. Language, use of tobacco and alcohol. Eventual MxM relationship. Don't like, don't read.
1. Problems Past

Sly sat quietly back in the hideout, his mind clouded with the recent events. He had managed to defeat El Jefe, but he had lost Rioichi's cane. The scene replayed itself over and over again, the figure in the blimp, the dropped badge. It all seemed like it was planned out. And what was worse, was the haunting expression Rioichi had in his eyes when Sly returned. He could tell that Rioichi was trying to play it off as nothing, telling Sly that at least El Jefe was done for, but deep down he knew how helpless the elder felt. Rubbing his eyes, Sly patted around in front of him blindly for the deputy badge that had dropped. Finally his fingers met the cool metal and he scooped it up, examining it curiously. Where on earth could the rats have picked it up and why? It looked like it was quite brand new, but at the same time it felt old.

"Sly?" Murray spoke up, seeing the distress his friend was in. "Do you suppose Bentley will figure out where it came from soon?" The hippo twiddled his thumbs, honestly curious. "It's Bentley. I'm sure he'll be in here any second telling us everything." He said, a forced smirk making it's way onto his face. Sure enough, just as Sly finished, Bentley rolled is way over to them, Rioichi following behind him. "Guys! Good news and bad news." He said, reaching to take the badge from Sly. "Well, good news is that I figured out where it's from! The bad news however, is that it seems that we're a step behind whoever is after the Coopers. Dimitri said that more pages are beginning to disappear. This time, from a different section." Sly and Murray both looked to him, waiting for the turtle to finish. "It seems that the badge you picked up, is from 1884." Sly thought for a moment. "That would mean...We're going to the old west?" Bentley simply nodded. "Yes. It seems that your ancestor, Tennessee Kid Cooper is in need of our help."

"Hey Sly? Isn't that the guy who did the rail walk and rail slide thing?" Murray spoke up, but it fell on deaf ears. Sly's mind was wandering, thinking of how he failed to help Rioichi, and how he wouldn't let the same happen again. "Well, I'm ready whenever you are Bentley." He spoke up at last. Bentley simply nodded. "Murray and I will go get the van running." He looked over at Rioichi. "You should probably stay here... I'm sorry but it's for your own safety." Rioichi simply nodded. "I know Bentley-san. I will wait here. Just be careful." With that, Bentley turned, motioning for Murray to follow and leave the two raccoons alone. "Look...Rioichi. I promise you, if it's the last thing I'll do, I will get you your cane back." Sly's eyebrows furrowed, his expression speaking for him. "I know. But right now, it seems that another Cooper needs your help. Don't you worry about me. With El Jefe gone, I don't feel that my restaurant will be threatened." Rioichi gave Sly a heartfelt pat on the shoulder. "Look Sly. Without your help I would still be in that cage. I have faith in you, but only if you have it in yourself as well. Arigato, and ganbatte." Sly couldn't help the genuine smile he gave as he climbed into the van. Rioichi wanted to see them off. His curious gaze watching the van as it quickly jumped forward, and suddenly disappearing into a flash of light. With a sigh, Rioichi made his was back to his shop, wishing the gang luck.

Writer's comments:

Hey guys. Some of you may have seen this on . I've decided to move it over here for a few reasons. It's easier for people to find and it helps me stay a bit more organized. You an read it either here or over at DA as both will be updated. Like I had mentioned in the summary, this will end up with a male and male relationship. This is kind of a last warning kind of thing. So if you don't like it, don't keep reading.

As for the story, it's a tad slow to start, but it'll pick up. So if you're actually interested in the story, keep reading. I would rather take my time and make this worth reading than rush and make mistakes.


	2. Into The Wild West

The Cooper van shook violently as they made their way through time. Sly couldn't help but wonder if time travel was what it felt like to sent through a washing machine on spin cycle. His musing was cut short however as a flash of blue told them that they had made it. Prying open an eye to look around he was a bit shocked to see everything so...bright. It was barely sunrise and yet the shining of the sun caused the ground, rocks and buildings to glow. It was quite magnificent, but also a bit painful. Something new to get used to, that was for sure. "Bentley? Did we make it?" He asked, curious and wanting to simply make sure. "Yeah. We're here alright. First thing's first however. We need a good hideout and someplace to put the van." Sly knowingly climbed out and jumped up on top of the van, looking for a good place to set up camp. His eyes trailed over buildings, mentally scratching them off for one reason or another before he finally settled on a large clock tower not too far off. "Bentley! Murray! Clock tower?" He shouted from the roof, bracing himself in case Murray decided to hit the gas. Sure enough, he did and it wasn't long until they had made it to the tall building.

"Sly. You go up and check it out. Murray and I will see if we can get the van hidden." With a nod, Sly quickly began to climb the steps up to the top. "A door? I suppose someone would have to have a way in in case the clock stopped...Well it can't hurt to try." He mumbled to himself, tugging on the door. "Figures. It's locked. Nobody ever leaves the door unlocked anymore..." Sly grumbled before looking around for a good foothold to climb on. After a few moments, he was well on his way up to a small opening above the clock. As he climbed up, Sly couldn't help but admire the landscape. It was very different than Paris, and something about the old time charm had instantly won Sly over. "Must be nice living here. It's warm and the scenery is amazing..." Sly reached up with his cane to hook onto the ledge of the opening and pulled himself up only to be greeted by a rather large spider. His foot slipped from the startle but he kept hold, and after giving the creature a good smack, Sly had second thoughts on his earlier comment.

Taking a moment to look around, Sly noticed that the room was mostly hidden in dark. Thankfully there was an old oil lamp nearby, and it seemed to be full. With a new lamp to help him see, Sly got a better view of what they had to work with. As he walked around the clock tower, it quickly became evident that someone was living there, and recently. There was a table with a few damaged chairs, and an old pile of blankets and various junk. At first it didn't seem like much, but as Sly pushed open a door that stood ajar, it was instantly evident just who had been living there. With a chuckle, he made his way over to the door to let the others in. "Hey. Coast is clear you two. And you'll never guess what I found in here!" He called to the others with a smirk.

"Woah! Looks like somebody beat us here!" Murray said as he took a few steps inside. Bentley however, was more curious about what Sly had found. "So what exactly did you find?" He questioned, looking worriedly at a rickety old chair Murray was about to sit on. "Gentlemen, I give you the hideout of none other than Tennessee Kid Cooper." He said, pushing open the door he found earlier to reveal what he presumed was where the Kid slept. An old beat up cot with sacks of gold set around. Ammo cases stacked up alongside some gun equipment. Everything about the room just screamed an outlaw's home. Bentley's jaw dropped as he looked around. "Well I'll be...It would seem you're quite right! But there's something that's confusing me..." Sly raised an eyebrow at Bentley before quickly changing his attention over to Murray, who had broken the old chair loudly. A small 'oops' came from Murray as he hastily tried to piece the chair together but to no avail. "If this is Tennessee's hideout, then where is he? It looks like nobody has been here in days." Sly thought for a bit. It did seem rather odd. And for someone like Tennessee to just leave all the gold here, it wasn't like he just decided to move. "I'm going to do a little research and see what I can find. Sly. You go out and survey the surrounding area. Let me know if you spot anything out of the ordinary."

Sly nodded and quickly made his way outside. It was about mid-day outside and the sun was beating down mercilessly on the sand and rocks. Sly felt like he was going to melt, but pushed it aside, wanting to figure out what was going on. He jumped from rooftop to rooftop, getting a good look at the guards that patrolled the area. Some large bulls took the ground level. Jackalopes and Coyotes wandered the roofs. Jumping down to the ground, Sly poked around a little, hoping to find something. Anything.

Sure enough, Sly found just what he was after. An old poster had been caught by the wind, revealing that there was something underneath. He tore away the picture of who he presumed to be the local sheriff and was greeted with a wanted poster for his gunslinger ancestor. Confused, Sly pulled it down and tucked it into his pack before taking off again. Narrowly dodging some guards, Sly found that there just wasn't anything he could use, and began to make his way back when he heard a couple of guards talking. "Ya know, I heard the new Sheriff ain't from around here. Have you heard 'im talkin'? He talks crazier than old man Fred." A coyote complained to his friend. 'A new sheriff?' Sly thought to himself. "Well, look on the bright side. At least the guy ain't useless. He caught that Kid Cooper fella. Ain't nobody ever been able to do that before." The other crossed his arms, as if to make a point. "Yeah. That's true enough. I'm still wonderin' how he did it though. That masked little monster managed to slip away from every other sheriff we had." "Kid Cooper?" Sly asked quietly to himself. He wanted to sit and see if they had any more to say but he knew he had to tell Bentley immediately.

"A recent new sheriff, and Tennessee being captured huh? That's all quite strange...And not only that but you said that the wanted poster was covered up by a new one?" Bentley rubbed his chin, thinking over what Sly had told him. "I haven't been able to find much yet. Did you by any chance see a name on the poster you saw earlier?" Sly's ear flicked as he tried to recall. He did see a name but he didn't look very hard at the poster. "Uh...T...T something. I think it was something with a tooth in it." He murmured, trying hard to remember. "Hang on...Let me see what I can scratch up." Bentley pulled over his laptop and began typing away while the mechanical hand on his chair made a motion for Sly to shoo while he worked. "Just relax for a little while. I'll let you know when I find something." With a sigh, the raccoon was left to try and entertain himself for a bit. He looked around the hideout, the old wallpaper peeling in some places, oil lamps hanging from the rafters, providing light. The whole place looked like it needed some serous help but there wasn't much he could do. Eventually, Sly began to think. He wondered just what Tennessee was like. He wasn't sure what to think of Rioichi when he first saw him. The whole thing was just throwing Sly for a loop to be honest. 'Hmm...guessing from the state of this hideout, Tennessee isn't exactly a world class decorator.' Sly chuckled to himself, before kicking his feet up onto the table and pulling his hat over his eyes, hoping to get a small nap in before he was sent off to work again.

Writer's comments:

This is the point where I'd like to point out a little of what I have planned for this story. I'll be following along somewhat with the actual game, but there will be things that were not in the game. Because if you ask me, I doubt Sly and the gang would just out of nowhere think of their plan. They'd need a bit more intelligence and such. Maybe that's just me but it's how I plan to have this play out. So if you have a favorite mission, then you can look forward to it.

Feedback is always welcome with the intent of either constructive criticism or positivity. Flames only feed my fire to write more.


	3. Poster Child

Creeeeeeeeeak.  
Sly didn't even have time to open his eyes before the chair he had been napping on collapsed under him, sending the startled raccoon plummeting to the ground. "Oof!" He grunted, sitting up awkwardly. A quick shake of his sore head cleared the sleepy fog from his mind. "Stupid...chair..." He growled, slowly lifting himself up off the floor. Murray had looked over at the noise, putting what he was doing on hold to check on Sly. "You okay?" He asked, seeing the annoyed expression on his friend's face. "Yeah. I'm fine big guy. Just the dang chair...Hey. Any word from Bentley yet?" He stretched, yawning rather abruptly. "Actually, yes." Bentley rolled over to the table, setting his computer down before pulling up the information he found.

"Well it seems that I was right. We're a step behind. The guy who's poster you saw was an armadillo by the name of Toothpick. He seems to have taken over the town here. As for why he put up posters of himself all over town...It seems that he's a bit of an ego maniac." Bentley looked over at Sly. "Now I managed to find a good amount of background on Toothpick and it seems to make sense as to why he would choose to be here. The local mine here is rich with gold. Something he loves. But I'm sure that with your ancestor Tennessee around, it would have caused him problems. Seeing as he specializes in gold and train robberies, Toothpick would likely see him as a large threat and try to remove the problem. Around here, it's common to toss troublemakers behind bars." Sly scratched his head lazily, knowing what Bentley was about to say. "Let me guess...It's up to me to check around?" He gave a smirk when Bentley scowled. "Well, yes and no. I need you to check, but in one place only. The local prison. Statistics are telling me that Tennessee is most likely to have been caught and thrown in there." Sly raised an eyebrow. "You really think so? He is a Cooper. What makes you think he'd be caught so easily?" Bentley gave Sly a rather blank stare. "Well, I'm not totally convinced that he was actually captured, but it's still not out of the question. While he might be a Cooper, Toothpick is able to time travel. That leaves Tennessee at a disadvantage."

Sly couldn't deny that Bentley's logic was sound. But something was still bothering him. Pushing it aside, he stood. "Alright then. I'll go check out the prison and see if anyone's home." As Sly made his way out of the hideout, he couldn't help but remember what he had heard from the guards earlier. 'They said that the new sheriff had caught a 'Kid Cooper'. It's pretty obvious that they're talking about Tennessee. I guess I just don't want to believe it...He's a legend in the Thievius Raccoonus! How could some time traveling armadillo be the one to catch him?' The whole situation was driving Sly crazy. Nothing made sense at the moment, but then again, the whole ordeal with concerning time travel caused a lot of confusion as well. All that was left for Sly to do was to get his job done quickly. The more time they took dawdling and over thinking, the more time they were giving Toothpick to get yet another step ahead.

Sly quickly made his way over to the large compound. It looked a bit like a military base and Sly presumed it was just as heavily guarded. Sneaking carefully around guards, and avoiding the new age traps that he came across, Sly finally reached a decent vantage point on top of one of the taller buildings. Peering through his binoculars, he focused his attention on a few rooms in particular. They seemed to have the most security around them as well as the largest patrol. However, as he scanned the windows, he didn't see hide nor hair of any raccoons. He was becoming rather discouraged until he noticed something rather unusual. There was a large pack of guards moving together, a tightly bound figure struggling in the middle of them. "What are they up to? Moving an inmate?" Sly asked himself, zooming in to get a better look.

One of the guards took a large hit, and stumbled backwards, breaking the circle and revealing a very angry looking raccoon. He had scruffy brown fur and looked like he had been dragged through a cactus field. Sly struggled to keep his sights on the wild coon as he bounced around, butting his head against guards left and right. Finally the guards managed to get him back under control and once more, began to shuffle him away. They moved up some stairs, and into the large tower that stood facing the river. "So that's where they've decided to put him? Bentley! You there?" Sly spoke softly, his earpiece picking up on his voice.

"Yeah. I'm here Sly. What did you find?" A static muffled voice responded. "Well, I'm not sure if it's him, but a bunch of guards just moved one of the prisoners to the tower. It was a raccoon, but it was difficult to tell just who he was. Should I try and get you a picture or two?" Sly began to plan out just how he would get up to the tower. "Yes. It certainly can't hurt. I can run a few scans when you return with the photo." Bentley pointed out. "Alright. I'll head over, snag a picture and be back soon." Sly said as he pulled himself up onto a nearby wall.

Using his cane, Sly hooked onto the tower wall, and began his slow climb to the top half. As Sly was climbing, he could hear someone talking. It came in small spurts and was difficult to understand, but it sounded like one of the bull guards was talking to someone. From the sound of their voice, Sly took a guess and figured that it probably didn't belong to another bull. Perhaps the prisoner? "Oh hush your mouth. The boss dun trust you in the cell. Quite frankly, I don't either." The steer chuckled, tapping his gun against the strong metal door. "Oh yeah? Well why dun your 'boss' come move me 'imself?" Sly peered into the small window to see the raccoon he saw earlier, snarling at the steer. The guard just laughed before walking away, not answering his prisoner, and thoroughly ticking him off. "HEY! Get back here you coward!" He yelled, his voice cracking a little bit as his fur stood on end. Finally, after letting his fur settle, the raccoon turned away from the door, allowing Sly to finally see his face better. Taking the opportunity, Sly quickly snapped a photo before he dropped down and made his way quickly back to Bentley. "You were right again Bentley. He really was captured..."

Writer's comments:

Sup guys? So we've found Tennessee at last! There will be more of him in the later chapters. So don't worry. We'll get him out of that cell eventually.

I'm still trying to get in a groove where I can write as each character without them spilling into each other. Hopefully everyone sounds in-character. If anyone however, has any ideas of how, if need be, I can make them sound better. I love constructive criticism guys. Help me make a better story for you to read! Also, if you catch any spelling errors, please point them out to me. I may miss some on occasion and it drives me nuts personally when things aren't spelled right. (Well, you know. When it's not intentional)


	4. Personal Space

"I can't believe it." Bentley carried on, looking over the photo that Sly handed him again and again. "This is astounding! Physical stature and fur patterns are very similar to yours Sly. You two have to be related!" Sly rolled his eyes in a dramatic manner, listening to the same tangent for what he felt was probably the 10th time. "Well I could always just go and talk to him. Make sure he really is my ancestor..." Bentley shook his head. "As easy as it sounds, chances are he won't have any idea who you are. If anything he'll either pick a fight or just ignore you completely." The turtle scratched his chin, running thought after thought through his mind. Sly scratched his head, trying to think of a plan as well, but coming up with nothing.

Murray, who had been watching the two quietly finally spoke up. "Why doesn't Sly just like...study him or something? If it's him, he should have stuff written in the Thievius Raccoonus book right? Maybe if you told him something he wrote in there, he'd believe you or something." He shrugged, unsure of his suggestion would be of any help. "Well it would have been a good idea Murray, granted if his section wasn't slowly disappearing from the book..." Bentley sat there for a moment before a realization hit him. "Wait! That's it!" Sly looked over at the sudden outburst, an eyebrow raised. "What did you think of buddy?" "Although Tennessee's section may be gone from the book...but he did live here. Look around! There's bound to be something you can find to learn about him!" Bentley rolled around the room, gesturing towards the pile of blankets and junk on the floor. Sly just stared at him with a confused look. "Why am I invading his personal life? So I know what his mother's name is? What good is this going to do to help get him out of that jail cell?" He grumbled, still not getting what Bentley was hinting at. "That's just it! Don't you see what I'm pointing out? If you learn about him, chances are it'll be easier to convince him that you're not there to harm him." There was a moment of silence between the two before Sly finally nodded. "I get it...But where do I start? How do I know if something's important?" Bentley shook his head. "How should I know? Just look around! There's bound to be something!"

Sly's eyes wandered around, trying to pick a place to start. His eyes trailed around the room, taking in the now familiar sights. The old wallpaper that was peeling and torn in places. Not much to see there. The old table and chairs weren't helpful either. Sighing, Sly shuffled over to the pile that Bentley had pointed out earlier. With a small grumble he began to shuffle through the junk, moving blankets around until he came across something very strange. Hidden rolled up in a blanket was what appeared to be an old beat up box. It wasn't locked, and weighted at least a pound or two. Setting it aside for later investigation, Sly finished digging and upon finding nothing else, moved on. Picking up the box, he looked around the room again, trying to decide if he should look through Tennessee's room or not. It could prove to be useful in finding out more about him, but at the same time, it felt somewhat wrong to just wander in and start picking through things. 'I'll check in this box first. With luck I won't have to look through the other room...' Sly thought to himself, before opening up the box. Peering inside, it was stuffed full of papers. Scanning a few of them, Sly noticed that a lot of them looked like hand written letters. He lifted one in particular to try and read it, but had difficulty doing so as the handwriting was rather scrawled and tough to follow. He did however, manage to pick out a few bits. Reading over what he could understand, Sly found a reoccurring name. "T.K." He spoke aloud softly. The letters seemed to be written to this T.K. from someone who seemed to know them well. Setting the letters aside, Sly began to dig again. Papers, papers and more papers. It was no wonder that the box was weighty. However, something unusual caught his attention. It looked like the corner of an old photograph.

Carefully pulling it up from underneath a stack of the letters, he held it up, trying to see what it was of. Examining it carefully, Sly noticed right away, that it must have been a family photo. There were two tall figures standing next to one another. A gentle looking female hare in a simple dress with round glasses and a tough looking coyote male donning a dark vest and trousers. Perhaps they were married? Sly's eyes trailed down to the bottom half of the photo where a few children stood. There was a young steer, maybe an early teenager, and a young she-hare who looked to be just a few years younger. Standing just beside them was two small scrawny raccoon children who were maybe 2 or 3 if Sly had to guess. They looked very similar and somehow familiar. "Hey Bentley?" He called over. "Come check this out!" He held the photo out, his arm extended as he continued to poke through the box. "What is it?" The turtle asked, taking the picture from him and looking it over. "I think it's a family photo...Check out the two little kids at the bottom. Thinking of what I'm thinking?" Sly closed the box, deciding that the rest wasn't of any importance. "Hmm...If I'd have to guess, I'd say that Tennessee had a sibling. But what he's doing in this photo is what confuses me." Bentley looked at the letters that Sly had pulled out. "What are these?" Sly passed the stack of letters over to him, as he moved to stand up. "Uh...letters. Can't really read much of them though. Who ever wrote them had some seriously bad handwriting..." Bentley scanned them over quickly before nodding. "I can try and read these. I might be able to help you find out more. In the mean time, see if there's anything else."

Sly gave a small groan. Looks like he was going to have to get a bit personal. Eventually, he made his way over to the door of Tennessee's room, and hesitantly pushed it open. He knew there was nobody in there, but he still couldn't shake the feeling that he should say something. Pushing aside his uneasiness, Sly began to poke around the room. He scanned his eyes over the bed, but couldn't see much more than well used blankets, and a frumpled pillow. The gold wouldn't be much help either, so Sly turned to the last thing that he could see. The gun equipment that was sitting on a short desk not far from the cot. Sly looked it over, making sure that there was nothing he could break by touching. First thing that caught his attention was the case of bullets. Reading the label, Sly found that they were for a rifle gun. There were a few other boxes of ammo but they too were for a rifle. 'Perhaps he prefers that to other guns?' Sly tried to recall what the Thievius Raccoonus entries mentioned but ultimately couldn't remember. Shaking his head, Sly had enough of poking his nose where he wasn't comfortable with. Turning on his heel to leave, a small corner of paper could be seen poking out from underneath the pillow on the cot. Curiosity got the better of the raccoon and he couldn't help himself. Tugging the paper gently out, Sly scanned it over. It looked like another letter, but this time, it was signed to a different name. He couldn't quite read it, but it seemed like Tennessee was writing a letter to someone. Perhaps a reply to the letters he had found earlier? Shaking his head, he took it with him as he left the room. "Hey Bentley. I found another letter. This one is different than the others. Think you can make something of it?"

Bentley took the paper from Sly and looked it over. "Hmm...Where did you find this one?" Sly gestured over towards the bedroom. "It was under the pillow in there. I've got the feeling that Tennessee didn't want anyone finding it. Much like the box of them that I found earlier." He took a step over to grab one of the remaining chairs, but thought twice and opted to just sit on the table itself. Scooping up a small stack of the letters, Bentley went to work, trying to read what had been written. "This might take a while Sly. Perhaps you should head back out into the field. I need a few photos taken to help me get a better grip on our surroundings." Sly nodded and hoisted himself up off the table, taking a moment to grab up his cane from the wall that he propped it up on. He couldn't help but chuckle to himself as he opened up the front door and walked calmly outside. "Still feels strange..." Looking around, Sly took a wild guess on what Bentley would have wanted him to get photos of. "Hmm...well there's a Saloon over that way. Perhaps I'll start over that way."

Writer's comments:

Well it seems that in this chapter, Sly gets to invade the personal life of our favorite gunslinger. There are plenty of questions, but not very many answers. Again you guys, feedback, wonderful. Constructive criticism, also wonderful.


	5. Letters of Heart

Tennessee paced around his cell, anxiety causing a knot in the pit of his stomach. He couldn't tell if he was beginning to feel ill from that, or the horrible food that the guards gave him. Either way, he wanted nothing more than to get out. The Kid had run over every idea he could come up with that could lead to his freedom, but they were all shot down by some problem or another. His pacing quickened as he started to become angry, his imprisonment testing his hold on his own sanity. However, before he could get far, a strange tapping on his cell door caught his attention. "Well well...if it isn't Kid Cooper. How are you liking your new room? Good yes?" A strange voice chuckled as it's owner tapped the bars again. A rather short figure stood, the sunlight behind him causing him to seem as nothing more than a dark silhouette. "I picked it out just for you yes. Heh." Tennessee's fur stood on end as he recognized the voice. The same cursed sheriff that threw him in here. "You..." Ears flat, he stomped over to stare down at the armadillo. Slamming his hands against the bars, he growled. "Let me out of here right now!" Toothpick simply chuckled, confident that the door would hold the angry raccoon. "Sorry Cooper but that might spoil the fun. You see, a lot of my boys are looking forward to seeing the show." Tennessee raised an eyebrow at him. "The...show? What in tarnation are you talking about?" He hissed, taking a few steps back.

Bentley sat back at the hideout, sifting through the papers. He had decided that it would be easiest to re-write what he managed to decipher and so far had come up with quite a good amount. Looking over his notes, Bentley was surprised with just what he had found. Setting the papers aside for a moment to contact Sly, Bentley mused over the new information. "Sly? How is it going?" There was a bit of static that Bentley presumed was due to being in the past, but he could still hear Sly just fine. "Things are going I guess. I got a few shots of the local hotspots for guards. I also got a shot of the posters that Toothpick has been putting up." Bentley rubbed his chin. "Good work. Can you go get a few photos of the prison area for me? Once I have those, I think I can put together a plan for us."

Sly, who narrowly dodged a guard, looked over at the train that was rumbling past at an incredible speed. He began to think to himself, wondering what it would have been like to rob a train like Tennessee was famous for doing. 'It must have been exhilarating. Maybe I'll get the chance to help him rob a train while we're here.' Sly couldn't help but run the idea of being part of a train heist while making his way over towards the prison compound again. Having his mind on other things, Sly didn't notice the steer holding a gun against his back until it was too late. "Hold it right there boy! How in the name of a mighty cactus did you get out of your cell?" The guard pushed his gun hard into Sly's back, forcing him forward a little bit. "Pardon?" Sly asked, turning curiously, a horrible fake English accent coating his words. "I do believe that you have mistaken me for someone else." The steer gave him a very confused look, taken aback by the raccoon's words. "Uh...You tellin' me you ain't Kid Cooper? You do look an awful lot like him." Sly chuckled a bit before leaning on his cane and tipping his hat. "Yes, I've been told I do share a resemblance to that terrible thief. I am nothing more than a visitor from the big city. I'm here to see my family whom live in the area." The guard didn't seem impressed and opened his mouth to question him further, only to be cut off once more. "And before you ask just why I am out here, I will tell you. I do have a bit of a leg issue if you haven't noticed my cane. If I sit still too long, it acts up and it's just the worst." The guard lowered his gun as Sly continued to ramble on and offered an awkward half-smile. "Sorry 'bout that sir. Just being careful. Never know...ya know? Uh...Enjoy your evenin'." He interrupted, hoping to get away from the chatty gentleman. Sly watched with a cocky smile as the steer turned and quickly made his way far from him, mumbling something about 'crazy city folk'.

Turning his attention back to his work, looking around for a better view point. Bentley however, was a step ahead of him. "Sly! Are you in front of the jail?" He looked around, scanning over the whole compound. It looked like it was locked up tight. "Yeah. What did you need photos of?" There was the sound of papers rustling and Bentley muttering before he spoke again. "Just a few of the general perimeter. Look for anything that could be a weakness in the walls. And get a shot of the tower if you can. The side where the window is." Sly looked up at the tower, thankfully, the window was facing him so he didn't have to go around. "Sly? When you're done, head back to the safe house. I have some interesting news for you." Confused as to what Bentley had meant, Sly brushed it off for the time being and quickly set to work.

Tennessee glared at his captor, confusion flooding his thoughts. "Listen up Cooper, in two days. Count them two! You're gonna have quite the time. You see, there's a penalty around here for thieves. Especially for those who steal gold. Heheh." Tennessee gave a low growl. "I didn't steal no darn gold. You caught me before I could! Or did y'all forget there 'Sheriff'. You got to me before I even got inside the dang bank." The armadillo shook his head. "Two days Cooper. Enjoy them while you can. Because before you know it, there'll be a rope around your neck!" With a dark chuckle, he turned and walked away, leaving Tennessee to dewll in the realization. "A rope? You mean..." The Kid's hands dropped to his sides, disbelief evident in his expression.  
In two days, Tennessee would be hung for a crime he didn't even commit.

Murray looked over at Bentley, watching his friend sketching out plans, only to scrap them one after another. "Sly has the pictures right?" He asked, feeling a little bit useless. He wasn't as agile as Sly, and wasn't as smart as Bentley, so there wasn't much he could do to help out until they had more information. "Yeah. When he gets back with them I will be able to put together a plan. And with some luck, we'll be able to break Tennessee out, and set things right." As if on a cue, Sly bumped open the door and waltzed over to the table. He dropped a stack of photos down with a smile. "Here you go!" Bentley sifted through the photos picking out the one of Toothpick's poster. "This is perfect! Just give me a moment to..." He trailed off as he began working on his plans again. Murray and Sly looked to each other when their friend began to mutter to himself. With a shrug Sly reached over the table to pick up the stack of letters that had been somewhat translated. Murray spoke up since Bentley was preoccupied. "He said that he did as much as he could, so you might be able to understand them now.

Scanning over the first of the letters, Sly assumed it was directed to Tennessee from someone. Maybe he could find out who with these.

_'Tennessee, I sent that photo that you wanted. Mum was happy to hear from you again. - and Duke where happy to hear from you as well. They said to tell you that things are okay back home. Ellie's back from her - in the city. As you know, things have been going well for me. They finally found what had happened to -. It seems that the - have been out and up to no good again. Sheriff found him with marks on his neck. They hung the poor bastard. - doesn't know yet.'_

Sly raised an eyebrow. There were blank sections where he had guessed Bentley was unable to interpret. So this person sent a picture to Tennessee? Sly could only guess that it was the one he had come across earlier. So just who where the people in the photo?

_'I got a letter from Duke and Ellie the other day. Mum has been asking when we were coming home. I can't go back yet. Not until I find that cursed -. I'll make them pay for what they did to Clyde, but I can't with -. I know you - the idea, but I'm sending him to stay with mum for now. I know how you are, so I asked - to wait a few days before sending this. You're my brother, and I don't want to see you end up like Clyde. I promise I'll come home.'_

Murray poked his head over Sly's shoulder as he was reading. "Murray? Can you do me a favor and grab me that photo from the box?" Sly asked as he ran over the letter over again. "Uh. Sure." He reached over, pulling the box closer and taking the picture out gently. Handing it over silently, he watched the expression that moved over Sly's face.

The photo showed a picture of a family, but not just any family. From what the letters were telling him, it was Tennessee's family. Looking at the two small raccoon kids at the bottom, then over to the letter. They were signed 'Bonnie' at the bottom. There were a few other names mentioned. Duke, Ellie, Clyde and Mum. Sly guessed that the elder hare woman was who they referred to as 'Mum'. So who was the steer and other hare? Was Clyde the coyote in the picture? Sly had so many questions, and with one letter left to read, things didn't seem promising. Scooping up the last letter, the one written by Tennessee, he almost didn't want to read it. Thankfully, Bentley stepped in before he could.

"Sly. Murray. I think I have a plan."

Writer's comments:

So this chapter was a tad quicker to upload, mostly for the fact that it was almost fully done when I posted the first four chapters. Figures that all I would need to feel motivated to finish this was a lack of sleep from my dang cold. Anyhow, the next chapter is underway! Hopefully it won't take me too long to get it all written up and posted for you guys. I'm looking forward to whats on the lineup for our fine thieves.


	6. Pushing Buttons

Sly stared at Bentley for a moment before looking at Murray bewildered. "I have to what?" He questioned loudly. "I thought the idea was to break Tennessee out, not get tossed in beside him..." Bentley simply pulled out the plans he had drawn up, pushing them in front of his skeptical friend. "Those photos you took revealed that there is some serious damage to the back high wall. We can't get near it from the outside due to the security. And with the high walls and the river, there's no way to sneak in. Now just trust me with this." Sly looked over the paper, having no choice but to go with the unusual plan. "Okay okay...So what exactly am I going to do? I mean I could probably pose as Tennessee and trick the guard into catching me...But that wouldn't make sense when they brought me to his cell." A shuffling of paper drew his curiosity, making Sly look up. In Bentley's hand was the poster that Sly had taken of Toothpick.

"These are set up all over town right? Well, knowing how big of an ego Toothpick has, I'm sure that if we use a little bit of our 'artistic reality' on his posters, it'll be a good way to get under his skin." Bentley smiled, taking a big red marker and drawing a rather goofy looking mustache on the poster. Sly chuckled before reaching to take the marker for himself. "Very lovely but I do believe you missed a little something..." He quickly scribbled a dunce cap on along side the previous insult. "See? I figured it was time that you could have a little fun. Now I have some paint left over from the van for you to use, but there's not much left. Try to get as many as you can with what you have. The more irritated you make him, the more likely you are to be tossed in with Tennessee." He pointed over to a few small cans of paint near the door. "Isn't that the paint we used the last time Murray let you drive the van?" Sly mocked lightly before a disapproving stare and a shake of the head sent him on his way.

As Sly made his way outside, he noticed the sun beginning to set. The perfect time to get to work. Running through his thoughts he tried to remember where he had seen the posters. If he could hit ones in more trafficked areas, then the more likely it was to be noticed. Scanning over the area around the hideout, Sly noticed one just across the train tracks in front of him. A good start for sure, granted he didn't get hit by the train on his way over. Jumping down onto the tracks, Sly narrowly dodged being seen by a steer guard. Close call this early was going to leave him on edge the rest of the mission. 'Just wonderful. So a poster like this? Yeah. This really does need a little touch-up. It's looking a little run down.' He smiled to himself, as he happily painted a few interesting new additions onto the once-was boasting poster. "Okay, one down, a few more to go." Sly looked back at the tracks, figuring that if all else, they might lead him to more posters.

As he jumped back over onto the tracks, he could hear the whistle of the train in the distance. It was going away from him, so Sly let his mind wander a little as he walked. Walking was rather slow, but he didn't really want to run right then either. "I'll have to remember to have Tennessee show me how he rail slides on these dang tracks." After a small walk, another poster. Then another, and another. It hadn't taken long before he began to hear the guards chuckling amongst themselves as he passed by them. He almost wanted to just walk over and join them...Almost. A few posters later, Sly was just about out of paint, and thankfully, he had just come across the perfect picture to finish the job. Right on the side of the town square's main event building was a very fancy picture of Toothpick. He looked like he had put some good money into having it made, and a few slashes of a brush later, it was worth nothing more than a good laugh. As he was admiring the last of his work, he heard heavy footsteps on their way to the building. Dodging away to where he wouldn't be seen, he observed as two guards were about busting their guts at his work, only to be rather rudely shoved out of the way by the one they were escorting. "Now this really chaps my hide! I'm going to find this 'artiste' and bust his thumbs! And maybe his pinkie..." A rather salty little voice erupted from the small armadillo that soon after began barking orders at the guards. "You go tell the boys that if they don't find whoever is making my beautiful posters look like...THIS...then they're gonna be joining that doggone Cooper when I string him up!"

The guards scrambled away quickly as the Sheriff continued to gruff and huff over his ruined image. Sly however, was more interested in the locked case that happened to be right across the way on top of the event building. "Sly! Good work! He's certainly not happy with you. Better watch your hands." Sly chuckled. "Well I'll keep that in mind when I let him catch me...So what's the deal with the locked case over here?" He was already eying up the case, letting his mind wonder just what was in there. "That's exactly what I was going to tell you about. Our dear Sheriff has a thing for lollipops. But not just any...That case happens to hold his particular favorite kind. A special Cuban brand that has to be shipped in. I tracked the shipments, and he won't be getting any more for at least two weeks! Get in there, and 'lighten' him from his sugary addiction will you?" Sly raised an eyebrow but shook it off as he quietly and carefully made his way over, right above Toothpick's head. The case wasn't very secure and was an easy open. However, opening the case may have been a mistake for a thief with a sensitive nose. An overpowering smell of rice and beans suddenly surged out, making Sly take a few steps back. "Ugh! What the heck? What is wrong with that thing? It stinks like rice and beans!" He covered his nose as he reached for it. "Oh yeah. I should have probably warned you about that Sly. Either way, I need you to head over to the train bridge. The one with the big banner. It's time that thing came down." With an exasperated wheeze, Sly tossed the unusual smelling treat into his pack. "Will do Bentley. Mind telling Murray that I'm bring him back a souvenir. And that he better eat it before it stinks up the safe house..."

"Argh...All this is really giving me headache...Nothing that a lollie can't fix though." Toothpick's voice was close behind Sly, and it made him jump a little. He had to get out fast if he didn't want to be noticed yet. His first reaction was to scramble up higher on the building, barely getting out of there before Toothpick made it up the stairs. "Huh? I don't remember leavin' this here thing open. Some no good varmint been messing up my looks now they trying to get my lollies?" He stared at the empty case, his ear twitching out of pure frustration. "If I catch whoever it is who's been stirring the dust...It's gonna be A DOUBLE HANGING!" He yelled, stomping a foot before storming off. Sly breathed a sigh of relief, and couldn't help but feel a little bad for the poor sucker who got in the way of that armadillo. On a good note, the high building gave him a nice vantage point to locate the banner. Just north of where he was, strung out over the side of the bridge. Squinting, he could see a few large clips holding the large thing up. Counting three, he began to make his way over, hoping that Toothpick wasn't going to take that frustration out early.

Tennessee had given up trying to pace a hole into the floor and gone to sitting over by one of the windows he was given. He had always been one to enjoy the scenery, or even just taking time to enjoy the little things of life, but being stuck in a cell he had taken to watching the town. Or what he could actually see of it from this side. So many things were clogging up his thoughts. He still wanted to try and escape, but every plan he had come up with had gone right out the very window he was sitting at. Anger, frustration and fear had settled deep inside his mentality, which made for a rather, explosive combination as the guards found out quickly. They had been giving him more room since he attacked one of them through the bars of the door, and it gave him some sense of peace even with his impending death. He still couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right however. The town, that was usually full of people going about their own business was dead silent other than the guards patrolling and there were hardly any in the main town area. He had seen quite a few gathering over by the train bridge, but didn't think much of it. With sigh, he turned away from the window and tossed his feet up onto a barrel he had moved over. Tipping his hat down, he blocked out the world, determined to get a little shut eye.

Sly had no problem making his way up on top of the rope that held the banner, and was making quick work of the pins that held it in place when Toothpick and his guards noticed. "There! Who's that boss?" One of the bulls yelled, pointing at Sly. "Hold your fires boys! That there's the scribblin', lolli-theivin' outlaw I've been looking for!" He yelled, his voice carrying easily up to the raccoon who simply smiled and made his way over towards them. He dropped down just behind them and boasted loudly. "Well well, if it isn't the Sheriff. A little slow aren't you? You couldn't even catch me the first time!" If he wasn't ready to strangle him, Sly was sure he was now. "Graah! Well you know what amigo? You just booked yourself a permanent room in the stoney lonesome! Round him up boys and make sure that those chains are tight!" He hissed, gesturing at Sly, who had the most smug smile plastered across his face. He didn't' offer any sort of fight when they chained him up and marched him off. "Get him out of my sight! Put him up in the tower for now. I don't wanna hear nor see him for a long while. Now GO!" Toothpick barked the order before stomping off, a tantrum underway.

The guards had led Sly through the back streets of town, and down to the river where a small platform was being moved by a rather unstable rope system over to the dock they stood on. Against better judgement, Sly stepped onto the platform, feeling it sway under the combined weight and as quickly as they had all made it on, they were moving again. Looking up at the tall walls of the compound, Sly understood why they had taken this approach. It was certainly an overpowering feeling coming from the place and he felt rather small compared. A shove knocked him out of his thoughts though as he was pushed forward. The guards walked him through a few small rooms, before stopping him in what looked like a crude office. One of the steers took his cane, and walked it over to a showcase, setting it up alongside a very familiar looking gun. He was then given a prisoner uniform and was told to change, as the other guard took the cuffs off him for a moment. He grumbled, but did as was told. When the steer who had taken his cane, picked up his outfit as well, he watched carefully as to where they put it. He would be back for it later. As he was not paying attention, a coyote guard waltzed in with a large chain in hand. Sly rolled his eyes, holding out his wrist expectantly. However, he was a bit surprised when he instead hooked it onto his leg. 'A chain on my leg? What are they gonna attach it to a ball?' Sly mocked silently but instantly regretted it. Sure enough, a huge heavy stone ball was placed into his arms. The ball was massive and weighted an absolute ton, making it hard for Sly to carry around. He shot the guards each their own hateful glare.

Forced to walk to whole way to the tower cell, carrying the stone ball, Sly was glad he didn't live in the old west. If this was what the punishment was for the mediocre crimes he pulled, then he'd hate to see what he'd get for stealing something of actual value. Shaking his head, Sly just concentrated on looking forward, and not dropping the heavy object on his own foot. The large iron door of the tower was pushed opened with a creak as Sly got closer. "Don't you two go fightin' now." The steer who had 'escorted' him the whole way laughed, giving him a rather tough shove into the room. Sly looked around the cell. It was cold, and rather barren, with tall walls and a few barred windows. Not exactly an ideal place to stay but it was better than the cell that the Contessa had him in some years back. Eyes wandered for a little while longer before the stopped on the other occupant of the cell. Tennessee was on the one bench in the room, leaning heavily on the wall. Head resting tightly down on his own chest and nose covered by his bandana. His hat was tipped over his eyes, but Sly presumed he was asleep by the steady rise and fall of his crossed arms that were over his stomach. Sly took a few steps towards him, hoping that the sound might wake him up so that he wouldn't have to, but with no luck. "Uh...Howdy." He tried, unsure of exactly how to address the other thief. Sly hoped that for his own sake, he would be able to gain Tennessee's trust, or at least not be attacked on the spot.

Writer's comments:

Whoa shiz guys. The big moment! Nah. Next chapter. Gotta leave you with a touch of a cliffhanger this chapter. Know why? Cuz I'm cruel like that.

I do however, believe I have done something right in the world with our next generation. My cousin of 7 years old, will come up to me every time she is over and with a massive smile on her face, ask if we can play Sly 4. Or as she likes to put it, "Go play as Tennessee." I think it's safe to say that she'll turn out something right.

Back to the story though! Next chapter! Will Sly manage to gain Tennessee's trust? Or will he get a boot to the head instead? Haha! OhgodIshouldbesleeping... Stay tuned guys.

As always, feedback is wonderful. Tell me what you liked, and what you'd like to see more of, less of, ect.


	7. Prision Break

Tennessee found himself standing alone out in the open, recognizing the barren fields that he grew up playing in. How he had gotten there, he had no idea, but was willing to accept the new-found freedom without question. However, as he tried to take a step, he found he couldn't. His legs felt heavy, like they were chained down. His whole body felt like it was made of stone, and it caused a wave of panic to flow through him. He struggled and struggled, but to no avail. "Tennessee!" His eyes flew towards the voice, recognizing it instantly. "Sis?" He asked softly, adrenaline still running deep. Sure enough, a figure of a young woman stood a few feet from him. Her gentle brown eyes gave him a sense of comfort and helped to ease his panic. His sister reached out, taking his hand in her own, tugging him lightly. As sudden as his body had felt heavy, Tennessee felt normal again. He was able to move about freely. He stretched out and shook his legs, taking time to enjoy every moment, still holding onto his sister. "Tennessee." She said again, this time louder. Looking over at her, he tilted his head. "What are you doing here Bonnie? Where are we?" Bonnie shook her head, before speaking again. "You have to trust me."

Sly stood still and quietly in front of the outlaw. The expression on the sleeping raccoon's face was making him quite curious. What started as contented peace was twisting into an uneasy frown. 'Is he having a dream? Should I try to wake him up?' Sly was worried that if Tennessee was having a dream, that he might wake up and flip out. Against his better judgement, he stayed quiet for a little longer.

Tennessee stared at her, confused and a little worried. "Trust you? I always have. Ever since we were kids!" As he tried to convince Bonnie, there was a strange feeling beside him. Tennessee looked over to his other side and was greeted by a ghostly blank figure. As they reached to take his other hand, Tennessee flinched. "Trust me." Bonnie repeated, watching the figure with a blank stare. "W-Who are...?" Tennessee tried to stutter out, the feeling of cold enveloping his hand where the 'thing' was touching him. "Freedom." It spoke, but without a voice. The word seemed to just appear in Tennessee's mind. Suddenly, Bonnie let go, and the figure closed in quickly, enveloping the startled outlaw. It's face, or where he assumed it was supposed to be, was right in his own. He felt like it was staring him down, but it didn't even have eyes...or did it? The more Tennessee stared, the more he could see something. Portions of facial features began to show through the light until he could determine a few obvious traits. He could see eyes, a nose and a mouth which opened and began to speak but without words. "Wake up?" Tennessee watched as the words were repeated silently over and over until suddenly, the form found a voice and shouted loudly. "Wake up!"

Tennessee jolted forward, knocking the barrel he was using as a footrest clear across the room. His head was greeted by something equally as hard and the hit stopped him from trying to stand. "Hey!" Someone yelped from in front of him. After rubbing the sore spot on his forehead, Tennessee opened his eyes and took in the sight in front of him. There was someone he didn't know standing in front of him, in his cell. A raccoon, a guy, and from the looks of it, probably close in age to himself. Just who was this? "Uh...Howdy!" The stranger tried, a lopsided smile placed on his lips. "Howdy yourself." He replied with a raised eyebrow. He was eying up the all to familiar uniform that they both had on. "Looks like you must have ticked ol' Toothpick off pretty good. I like that. You got a name?" The stranger set down the weighty ball that was chained up to his leg and almost seemed to hesitate. "It's Sly. Sly Cooper."

A hand was offered in greeting, but The Kid ignored it, paying more attention to what this fool called himself. It hadn't taken but a bat of the eye before Tennessee had straightened himself up, boot stomping down hard in the process and raising a small reaction from the newcomer. "Now Son, you should know I don't take kindly to folks funnin' on my family name." He growled out, wondering just who would be dumb enough to try something like this idiot was. Sly, as he called himself, threw a hand in the air and over his heart, as if it would make a difference. "I swear I'm not joking!" He stated quickly. "I can explain..." Before he could however, Tennessee had stood up abruptly and raised his voice to a shout. "Talk ain't worth spit, Boy!" He drove glare after glare at the 'phony Cooper' and took a step forward, threatening to tackle him at any moment.

Sly took a sudden step backwards, bumping against the stone ball. He would be in trouble if he couldn't get the grouchy raccoon to settle down, and quick. Out of panic, he tossed the first thing in his mind out with a shred of hope. "I know about Bonnie!" Tennessee stopped cold for a moment, eyes lowered slightly, thinking carefully before shooting back up to meet Sly's. "Yeah! And I talk in my sleep! That doesn't prove a dang thing." Sly was a little taken aback. He hadn't heard him talking in his sleep, but that didn't matter right then. "I also know Ellie and Duke! And how Bonnie had a score to settle with the guys who took Clyde." He spouted off, hoping something would register with the other. After a few seconds, Tennessee seemed to calm down a little. The gunslinger gave him a rather irritated sneer as he spoke. "So you know about my life. That still ain't got anything to do with you funnin' around. There's only one way to prove that you're a Cooper." Sly watched the sneer, turn to a smirk and knew that while he may have gotten his temporary trust, it wasn't going to last for long. "How can I prove that I really am a Cooper then?" He asked, leaning against the stone ball, watching as the other simply pointed at him. "Bust us outta here!"

Tennessee had honestly expected Sly to just give in then, and tell the truth. Tell him who he really was. However, instead of that, Sly simply stood up, and began to look around, scoping the place for something. After a few minutes, Sly scooped up his ball and slowly made his way to the rear window of the cell. Tennessee was just about to ask what he was planning to do when the other threw the heavy stone ball right at the wall, effectively knocking a chunk down. "Here. We can get out through this hole." Sly offered, gesturing for Tennessee to go first. Impressed, Tennessee sauntered over to check just how far of a drop it would be, but stumbled back quickly when he realized just how bad it was. "Uh. Yeah...Sorry 'pal' but there's no way I'm jumpin' from here." Sly sighed and rolled his eyes, annoyed but determined. "Fine. You wait here and I'll find you a different way out.

Sly opted to try a different way down himself, but knew they didn't have much time before someone noticed. Lowering the ball down as far as he could, Sly braced himself and with a self-berating sigh, jumped off the ledge. The weight of the ball pulled him down quickly, but having it land first gave Sly the advantage of being able to not break his legs. It did not however, give him much for grace as he landed with a loud thump right onto his rear. "Well that could have been worse...I guess." Sly muttered, ignoring the snickering coming from Tennessee. He stood slowly, trying to avoid any sudden movement and pain. "I'll go see if I can't bust through the other door. Don't go anywhere okay?" Tennessee gave him a blank glare before turning away, presumably to wait for Sly. Scooping up the ball again, he hustled up and over to the door.

It was a huge heavy door. Solid wood enforced with steel to make it impossible to bust open. Well, without the help of a stone ball that is. Throwing the ball with what strength he could muster, Sly managed to leave a huge dent and splinter a good portion of the wood. Another toss would crumple it with ease, but as he wound up for another throw, a loud high pitched whistle noise rang through the compound. Someone had turned on an intercom system and was muttering and rustling about. "Alright! Listen up!" A voice boomed loudly, and Sly knew instantly who it belonged to. Had Toothpick noticed them already? "So some of you know about my secret vault. Which I guess isn't so secret...Whatever! Forget that!" Toothpick began to ramble on and on, but what had really caught Sly's interest was this 'secret vault' that he was talking about. He would have to mention that to Bentley later. Right now, that door needed to open.

Tennessee stood in the center of the cell, wondering just where Sly thought he was going to get to. There was only the door that was on the upper floor and he hadn't seen any other ways to get to the cell on his way up. His ears swiveled around, trying to listen for the other. A loud crunch and crash told him that Sly had made it through the door. Averting his eyes to the steel door in front of him, Tennessee waited to see if Sly would show. He wasn't sure just what he was expecting to happen, but it didn't involve the floor dropping out from under him and sending him tumbling down a pile of stacked crates. Tennessee let out a sharp yelp as he landed flat on the floor, just in front of Sly. "Uh...Sorry about that. I didn't think you were standing right there." Sly couldn't help but chuckle as he offered a hand to help the other up, who grumbled, but took it. "Yeah...well y'all could have warned me a bit better." Resisting the urge to argue the topic, Sly took the lead, navigating the compound just as Bentley had told him to. Tennessee just simply followed behind quietly for a while before speaking his mind.

"So tell me. Just exactly where are you from friend? It's obvious it's not from around here..." Tennessee couldn't help himself as Sly moved a few of the large crates that blocked their path. "I'm from...uh...A country quite a ways away from here. It's across the sea." Sly offered, hoping that he wouldn't press the question further. They really didn't have the time for Sly to try and explain right now. "That far huh? Well I guess that might explain your funny accent and strange sense of humor." Sly bit his own tongue at the low jab and brushed it for now. He concentrated on the choice he had found himself in front of. There were two different paths to take, but he couldn't remember just which one it was he was supposed to take. Tennessee took notice of his hesitation and pointed to the left door. "That one maybe?" With a shrug, they pushed through the door.

It was a somewhat open room with tables stacked up in various places. There was also a large wall of barrels blocking the back of the room from view. "Let's go see if this is our way out." Sly spoke as he gestured for Tennessee to stay close. He peered around the barrels, not sure what might be there, but thankfully, and unfortunately there was only a dead end. "No good...Looks like we have to go back the other..." Sly started to speak but stopped as Tennessee was swatting at his shirt like a mad man. After a moment he stopped and looked up to see Sly staring curiously. "What!? Lets see how you react if a big 'ol spider dropped outta nowhere onto your head!" He snapped, trying to defend his pride. Sly just rolled his eyes and pushed past the flustered raccoon, watching the aforementioned offender scuttle away. "When you're done dancing, our exit's this way."

Just as they 'escaped' the room and the rest of the spider family, the intercom went off again. Another loud whistle, and more of Toothpick's loud voice filled the air. The two escapee's ignored it however, as they pushed another of the many crates out of the way. "Why does there have to be so many of these? Things are dang heavy!" Tennessee complained, rubbing his shoulder as if it was sore. "Well at least you're not stuck with the ball and chain." Sly countered while dragging the heavy attachment behind him before Tennessee placed a foot up on it, effectively stopping him. "Well in case you didn't know, they're plannin' on hangin' me tomorrow. Did you wanna trade?" An obvious tone of sass in his voice. "No. And unless you were looking forward to that hanging, I suggest we keep moving." Sly yanked on the chain, pulling the ball out from under Tennessee's foot, making him stumble a little.

Tennessee was still not sure of if he liked this new guy or not. There was no way he trusted him just yet, but he could respect the guy for actually getting them out of that cell in the tower. Maybe if he was lucky, Tennessee wouldn't ditch him for the guards right away after all. His musing was cut short as Sly held out an arm, blocking him from moving forward. "Hold on. You stay here for a moment." Peering ahead, Tennessee noticed why Sly had stopped him and had no problem not going forward just yet. The light of a steer guard shone brightly around the corner, just a ways in front of them. Sly was creeping forward ever so slowly. Trying to get behind the guard to take him out quietly he would have assumed. Making use of the time he was given, Tennessee ran over his plan once more. Originally he had planned to ditch Sly and let the guards toss him down once they escaped, but now he was curious. Just who was this guy? He shows up out of nowhere, claiming to be from some far off place, and to share his family name. He even knew about his siblings and Clyde. About how Bonnie had gone to get revenge. How did he learn about that? "Hey Tennessee! Coast's clear! Let's keep going!" Sly's voice called, pulling his brain back onto their mission.

The pair made their way through the gate that the guard was blocking and into what looked like a makeshift loading dock. Perhaps to shuffle supplies from one side of the river to the other. Tennessee made his way up the steps to the higher level and was looking out over to the other side. Sly on the other hand was listening carefully to the rest of Bentley's plan. "Sly, you're gonna need Tennessee to carry the TNT to blow the perimeter wall. Needless to say, you'll want to make sure he steers clear of things like fire or bullets..." The static was causing Bentley's voice to become a bit distorted, but still understandable. "Naturally. Thanks Bentley."

As Sly finished talking, Tennessee had turned his attention over to him, who from the outlaws point of view, had just decided to talk to himself. He put a foot up on one of many TNT crates that happened to be piled up near him and tipped his hat up a bit, raising an eyebrow in the process. "Son, who is it you keep talkin' to?" Sly gave him a questioning look but remembered that Tennessee couldn't hear Bentley speaking. "Uh...I have a thing in my ear...that lets me talk to my friend. Now he's telling me that you need to carry some of that TNT so we can blow the gate." Sly offered a awkward smile, hoping he wouldn't have to explain that just yet either. He breathed a sigh of relief when Tennessee just shrugged and smiled. "Sure...I got voices in my head tellin' me to blow things up too." He laughed and scooped up a crate. "They been right so far. Let's get to it!" Sly couldn't help but notice that Tennessee sounded almost a bit overly excited at the idea of blowing things up. He'd have to keep an eye on him.

As Tennessee wrestled the rather heavy crate around, Sly had to stifle a laugh. He had taken notice of how short Tennessee was back when he was threatening to beat him to a pulp, but it was really showing now. Sly was probably a foot taller than the other, and watching him try to carry a huge crate was a bit comedic. He stood watching until Tennessee finished struggling his way over to a large wooden platform. "Think we can use this?" He asked louder than normal, assuming that his voice would be blocked by the crate. Sly looked at the chains and ropes hooked up to the ferry-like platform and followed them over to a small turn wheel. "Uh. I think we can. Hop on and I'll see if I can't get you across." Tennessee staggered over, hesitating when the wood swayed under his foot falls. Once he was centered, he set the crate down and motioned to Sly that he was set. "Hold on tight!" Sly warned as he began to twist the wheel, spinning it and moving the whole setup upwards until it stopped with a loud crunch.

Tennessee and platform jolted, but stayed relatively put. "Hey! What's the fuss about!? You trying to kill me?" Tennessee yelled, catching his balance before he fell over. Sly scanned quickly to see just what went wrong and found that one of the ropes got caught by the chain and snapped. 'Figures it would be the one I need too.' He muttered silently before putting together a hasty plan B. After scrounging for any ideas, one came to mind that he wasn't totally sure about himself. "Okay. So the ropes aren't going to be able to help us. Looks like I'm gonna have to give you a boost to get the whole thing across." He explained, dragging his ball over and lifting it up. Tennessee caught on to what Sly was about to do and grasped about wildly to find a handhold. However before he could find anything, Sly had tossed the stone against the side of the wood, splintering parts of it but sending it hurtling towards the other side of the river.


	8. Stowaway

Bonnie's back was pressed tightly against the side of a run down building, her small shape hidden in the shadows. She quieted her breathing as a coyote walked past, not noticing the intruder. When he was far enough away, Bonnie let out a deep sigh. Sneaking into the heart of enemy territory may not have been her best idea. Especially when she was on her own. She twisted her ears around, listening for any nearby guards. Greeted with silence, Bonnie took the opportunity to poke her head around the corner, trying to locate her main target. "Coyotes and hares...but no stripped tail..." She growled lightly under her breath as she crouched down, ready to make a move forward. The morning sun filtered through buildings and made a perfect pathway through the ruins. The burned remains of a battle long ago left many places to duck and hide, but plenty of rubble for her boots or clothes to catch on and make noise. Ideal for any experienced thief, but there were at least a baker's dozen of guards that Bonnie had counted so far. While most were concentrated near one of the larger buildings, there were still many out patrolling. Leaving heavy odds weighing against her , there was no other option than to stay low and hope that the rising sun's shadows would provide her a chance. It had taken her ages to find and track him down. There was no way she was going to leave empty handed.

Rodney paced around, anxiously awaiting the return of his head guard. He had gone to secure the town perimeter and should have been back a few minutes ago. To anyone else this would have been normal, but to the skunk, it was a serious red flag. His hand moved to rest over top of his gun, and he started his mental countdown. '10, 9, 8, 7...' He continued, giving his subordinate just mere moments to arrive before he took off. '3...2...' Before he could count the final number, a loud crash caused him to jump, firing a shot into the general direction of the noise. When the smoke cleared he saw his most trusted man, cowering on the floor, singed tail up in the air. "It's just me boss! I swear!" The poor jack rabbit uncovered his eyes, fearful that he would be staring down the end of a barrel. Rodney rolled his eyes, holstering his gun with an annoyed huff. "You're late. You're lucky you still 'ave your tail Billy. Any longer and I'd 'ave left ya for good." Billy slowly stood up, looking back at his tail with distress as he sputtered apologies left and right. The skunk ignored him however, pacing around the room once more, it's floor boards rotting with age and weather. "So then Billy. Is it done?" His voice was surprisingly calm, considering how important their mission was. "Uh...Yes! Yes! The boys just got done loadin' it up! S'all there! All according to hoyle!" The hare bounced as he spoke, his words jumbling a little. Rodney stopped his wandering and gave a satisfactory nod. "Good. He'll like to hear that. Now tell them boys to wind up. I don't wanna be out 'ere much longer." Billy gave a quick salute before scampering off, leaving Rodney to his own thoughts. "I ain't no shave tail like the rest of them fools. It's been too quiet out there...somethin's up."

Tennessee squeezed his eyes shut, not daring to open them as he was sent hurtling towards the other side of the river. The wind rushed through his fur, fluffing it up awkwardly and sending chills as braced for the impact he knew awaited him. However, after mere moments, the wind had died down and was more of a light breeze. The platform rumbled forward a little more before bumping gently against the landing, informing the petrified raccoon he had arrived in one piece. "Hey! Tennessee!" Sly called over, needing the others help to get across. "There's a rope stuck in the chain! Can you pull it down and tie it somewhere?" Sly hadn't really hadn't thought the whole plan through and only now saw the huge flaw that was stopping them. Tennessee listened to Sly calling over to him, before he cautiously opened his eyes. His first sight was the dull shine of the sunrise, catching him off guard, but after a moment he saw the outline of the rope Sly had mentioned. He quickly stood, and snatched the rope down, before gratefully clambering onto the landing. "Something to tie the rope to..." Tennessee muttered as he looked around, but to no avail. The only thing that was even remotely helpful was the old railing that he wouldn't even bet to put his hat on. With a grumble, he looked back over the river. "Nothing I can use here. Gonna go a bit up and see what I can find!" Sly gave an acknowledging wave before he settled to nosing around the area some more.

Tennessee passed through the doorway behind him, which led into a much larger area. There were a few separation tracks that housed old mine carts, filled with rubble and scraps. Something rather unusual for a jail, Tennessee couldn't help but notice. He moved to take a step forward but a bright light shining caused him to jump back. There were guards posted everywhere, watching various areas of the compound. Most of them kept their eyes on the carts, and upper walkways, but there were a few who seemed to peer down to the ground on occasion. Tennessee would have to be very careful here. Timing his move, the thief scurried under one of the raised platforms, instinctively listening to the footsteps, judging where they would go next. Thankfully, they seemed to be constant, pacing back and fourth, giving Tennessee a chance to tie off the rope to the sturdy beam that supported it. Once it was on tight, he wasted no time in moving back, waving across to Sly. It didn't take long after that for the other raccoon to start his humorous struggle across the rope. The heavy stone ball certainly wasn't making things easy, but it wasn't impossible.

"S'all good and set. Gonna wanna take it slow and easy in there though. The place is crawling with steers." Tennessee warned as he once more, strained to carry the crate of dynamite. "Let me take care of them. You just keep yourself out of trouble." The smirk that crossed Sly's face made Tennessee a bit uneasy, but he did as he was told, sticking to the shadows. Sly on the other hand, crept up to the carts, observing the track ends and how, if moved, they would make a nice walkway. He motioned for Tennessee to put down the crate and help him. "We can't make a lot of noise, so I'll need your help moving these." He whispered, motioning towards the guards. Tennessee raised an eyebrow at him, but moved to help anyway. Pushing together against the rusted metal wheels, the two escapees moved the first of the three carts down the track after quite a struggle. As much as they would have liked to take a victory rest, their celebration was cut off by one of the guards swinging his light over the cart. "Hmm?" The steer murmured, walking over to the edge of the walkway, staring down at the moved cart. "Dang Amos...Tryin' ta freak me out with the carts again...I ain't gonna fall for it Amos! Ya hear me!" The steer yelled loudly, presumably at 'Amos'. Sly breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. I didn't think about that." He admitted, looking over to see a disgruntled Tennessee staring back. "Didn't think about...Augh! I knew you was tryin' ta get me killed!" He growled quietly, slinking back to the unmoved carts. Amused at the little outburst, Sly followed behind, trying to decipher the angry mumbles from in front of him.

The second cart was much easier as the wheels were not as badly rusted. However, the movement of the second attracted the guard's attention again. "That's it Amos! You've been on the shoot all week boy! Y'all better cut it before I give you a beatin'!" The now frustrated steer yelled down to the carts, his light dangerously close to spotting Sly's tail. The two stayed silent and still until they were sure the guard moved to face away again before they scampered back to the final cart. Sly wasn't about to waste time and immediately began to push once more. Tennessee on the other hand, stayed put. "Hey...You could help you know?" Sly grunted, pressing his entire body weight into the wood and metal. "If we move this one, that dang steer's gonna be all over us! I dunno 'bout you boy but ain't no way I'm gonna let myself swing from a rope so soon." He crossed his arms as if it would prove a point. "I know. But this time, I'm prepared...You just gotta trust me!" Sly didn't bother to look back at him but Tennessee could tell he was smiling by the tone in his voice. He stood unmoving for a moment longer before letting out a loud huff and settling alongside Sly, shoving the last cart along the tracks. Finally with a small creak, the last one was in place and sure enough, the guard noticed. "You dumb fool Amos. I'm done dealin' with your bosh." Heavy footfalls told that he was on his way down, and fast. "Tennessee, go back over by the crate and stay low. I'll take care of this." Sly shooed him away, before taking up hiding just beneath the ramp leading to the walkway.

Bonnie noticed a rather loud noisy hare barreling straight towards her and ducked quickly out of sight. As the guard ran by, dust was kicked up, fogging her vision,but also bringing a sense of curiosity. 'He's in an awful big hurry...Wonder where he's off to?' Bonnie's ears swiveled, listening for anyone else close by before following. "Calvin! Elijah! Garrett! Get the others! We're haulin' out! Make sure everythin's secure and in the wagon before Rodney gets over here!" The hare yelled, getting the other guards moving quickly. Bonnie strained to see just what the coyotes were loading into the old wagon. Crates filled with something of value she suspected. "Worth a look..." She muttered, closing in on the group slowly, each footfall placed precisely to avoid noise. As the coyotes loaded the last of the boxes and tossed a large cloth over them, two of the three ran off to gather the rest of the guards. With just one left behind, Bonnie felt it was a good time to strike and quickly skirted around to the back of the wagon, following right behind the guard as he walked around. She watched as the lone guard settled with making sure that the cart hogs were hooked up, ready to pull. A noisy job for sure, providing plenty of noise cover for Bonnie to pop open the closest crate and reach inside. To her surprise her fingertips met with something solid and cold. 'Metal?' Grasping a few of the objects in her hand, she pulled back, looking at what she had found. Resting in her hand was a small pile of pure gold coins, age evident in the patterns engraved upon them. 'What in blazes?' Tucking them quickly away, Bonnie propped the crate lid back on, hoping to avoid any suspicion. Turning quickly on her heel, she was met with the sight of a pack of 6 or so coyotes returning from a far off cluster of buildings. "Dagnabbit" She hissed quietly, changing course to run back to the shadows of the town. Another bad turn she found, as Rodney himself was heading right towards her. She had no time to run, and no time to hide.

"Billy!" Rodney yelled, looking around at the approaching guards. Sure enough, the loyal hare was at his side, rambling about this and that. "I'm going now. Either get in the wagon, or be left behind. The rest of you, get your hides back as soon as you're done coverin' our tracks. I don't want nobody trying to find out what we've got." The skunk gave a dismissive swish of his tail before clambering into the driver seat, Billy finding his place next to him. He gave the reigns a quick snap, the hogs squealing loudly as they ran. "Now all that's left is to give this to the big bug. He'll see it to that Toothpick fella." Rodney smiled, thinking aloud to himself. "So...uh...If I can ask boss...What's the deal with us workin' for that armadillo fella anyway? What are we gettin' out of it?" Billy asked, honest curiosity in his voice. "Well apparently, the boss says that this Toothpick fella's got an old 'friend' of our in his hold." Rodney gave a cruel smirk, snapping the reins again. "Apparently in dicker for some amount of gold and shine, we finally get our hands on our old pal Cooper..." Billy's ears perked up at the name. "You mean he's got Cooper?" Rodney nodded and looked back at the crates. "Yeah. But the nuthouse is only gonna hold him 'till sunrise tomorrow. If we don't get this gold to him in time, then we ain't gonna be the ones ending that ringtail's life." Billy fell silent, knowing his leader's long lived hatred for the raccoon. "I'll make him pay for what he did. Forget the famous name Cooper. It's gonna be Mc Paradoc making headlines!" He let out a loud chuckle, enjoying the thought.

The wagon bumped along the dirt path, headed somewhere the stowaway could not tell. Bonnie, in her haste had dove under the cloth and crammed herself as close as she could against the crates, hoping it would be enough. Having overheard the whole conversation, Bonnie knew the choice she had to make. Either she could abandon the wagon, risk being seen but have a chance at saving her brother, or she could stay, and likely be caught. Her choice was clear as she began to scoot forward towards the edge of the wagon's back. She took a second to peer out from under the cloth to figure out her surroundings. Thankfully they weren't far from a small village that Bonnie knew quite well. If she could get there without being seen, she would have no problems blending in. Just as she moved to scoot backwards and think through a quick strategy, the wagon hit a rather ruthless bump that tossed her right off the back and tumbling through the dust. Bonnie came to a stop after a minute or two, and simply lay there, staring upwards at the morning sky. "Well that could have gone better..."

Writer's comments:

Yeah...this chapter is long overdue. I do apologize for that. I was struggling on a major plot point but it's all sorted out now~ This is a slightly shorter chapter than the last one but sometimes it just can't be helped...

Now starting off right away, there's something a bit different! You might remember Bonnie from the earlier chapters. Well here she is in action! And we also get to meet this Rodney fella. Mc Paraoc...sounds a bit familiar don't you agree? I wonder what his connection to Tennessee is. And why is Bonnie after him? Most importantly...Will Sly and Tennessee ever escape from the jail? It's already daybreak! They'd better hurry!

See what happens next in chapter 9! Also, for the curious, I'll be posting some concept art for characters as I go~ I'll add a link when they're up for those interested!


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